Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3

Summary

The Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3 headphones prove that combining two good things often isn’t the best idea. By pairing the in-ear design with active cancellation, the headphones actually perform worse than either a typical active-canceller or in-ear headphone. Despite this and some other audio performance issues, we think the ATH-ANC3s might be good for drum fans, or people that like a deep, slightly tubby bass.

The ATH-ANC3 headphones currrently retail for $170.

Frequency Response (3.32)

The Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3 headphones didn’t have the best frequency response score. As you can see, the bass is a bit over-emphasized. While listening, we found the bass often came close to sounding muddy, but never quite got there. Also, it looks like there’s another significant peak around 7kHz, which is the attack (the initial sound of impact) of most drums. While we didn’t particularly mind this boost, we can see how some would think the drums sound a bit too loud. After the 7kHz range, the graph drops off sharply, only to hike back up again in the 15kHz range, which should give a boost to cymbals.

The Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3 headphones certainly can’t be accused of having a flat response curve. Unlike many of the other headphones below, the over-emphasized frequencies seem to be deliberate. That being said, the boosts are a bit over-zealous. We tend to favor a flat response curve, since it provides listeners with the closest representation of their music (it also doesn’t assume the type of music you prefer listening to). If you like drums & bass music, the ATH-ANC3 headphones are good headphones for you.

If you want a flatter response, check out the 6isolators, which had a good score for a pair of in-ears. The Sennheiser MM 50 iPs feature a similar response curve to the ATH-ANC3 headphones, but don’t emphasize the 7kHz range as much.

Headphones	Score	Frequency Response
Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3	3.32
Etymotic Research ER6i	6.7
Sennheiser MM50 iP	5.04
Apple iPod In-ear Headphones	5.1
Bose QuietComfort 3	1.66

Distortion (1.77)

Bearing in mind that anything above 3% is noticeable, and that many good headphones hover very close to the zero line, it’s clear the ATH-ANC3 headphones have a bit of a distortion problem. The majority of distortion is present for frequencies above the 1kHz mark. Given the over-emphasized bass, we’re surprised to see the lower end is home to the lowest distortion levels.

This isnt’ necessarily surprising; out of all the headphones we’ve tested, active-cancellers have a disproportionately higher chance of having issues with distortion. This makes sense when you consider that active cancellation works by playing back sound that has nothing to do with the music. Active cancellation can do a lot of things to mess with how your music sounds.

Being the curious cats we are, we also tested the ATH-ANC3 headphones with their active cancellation turned off. While there’s significantly less distortion, there’s still more than we typically see.

Given its poor performance, it’s evident the ATH-ANC3 headphones don’t compare well on this test. The Sennheiser MM 50 iP headphones are almost immaculate when it comes to distortion, and is currently the site leader on low distortion. Other active noise cancellers, like the Bose QC2 and Aurvana X-Fi headphones also had good distortion scores.

Headphones	Score	Distortion
Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3	1.77
Etymotic Research ER6i	4.31
Sennheiser MM50 iP	12.6
Apple iPod In-ear Headphones	1.9
Bose QuietComfort 3	10.0

Tracking (7.87)

The ATH-ANC3 headphones had pretty good tracking. As you can see, other than a few dips and peaks in the mid that are on the magnitude of a few decibels each, the line stays reasonably straight the entire time. Towards the end the graph gets a bit jagged, which is typical. Overall, the ATH-ANC3s are well balanced, but not perfect.

The ATH-ANC3 headphones scored in the middle of the pack here, but they’re still in good shape in terms of usability. If you’re looking for really top-of-the-line tracking, the 6isolators are about as close to balanced as you can get.

Headphones	Score	Tracking
Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3	7.87
Etymotic Research ER6i	9.52
Sennheiser MM50 iP	8.2
Apple iPod In-ear Headphones	7.04
Bose QuietComfort 3	2.49

Maximum Usable Volume (8.33)

We were able to squeeze 113dB from the ATH-ANC3 headphones before the sound became a questionable quality. This is a fine output level. We typically award maximum points to headphones capable of 120 dB, but any more than that is overkill unless you have/want a hearing problem.

Isolation (4.68)

We found that flipping noise cancellation on and off doesn’t make a significant difference in the amount of sound blocked out. The place where you’ll see the biggest improvement is with lower frequencies, with no real noticeable difference towards the high end.

The ATH-ANC3 headphones actually did worse on isolation that the other comparison headphones. Judging from our test results so far, active noise cancellation is great for over-ear or on-ear headphones. Active cancellation is inferior, however, to a good set of in-ears. Apparently the best way to block out noise at the moment is by plugging your ears.

It seems that, by employing active cancellation, the ATH-ANC3s have sacrificed some of the isolation that comes from solidly plugging up the ear. If you’re looking for good active cancellation, stick to over-ear headphones with non-cloth ear cup pads. The non-cloth cup pads will provide a good seal with your head, provide a larger sound stage, and the active cancellation will often have a significant impact. If you’re looking for the best isolation possible, go for in-ears with multi-flanged sleeves (triple-flanged will have the silhouette of a Christmas tree).

Headphones	Score	Isolation
Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3	4.68
Etymotic Research ER6i	10.01
Sennheiser MM50 iP	6.6
Apple iPod In-ear Headphones	6.42
Bose QuietComfort 3	6.28

Leakage (4.62)

The ATH-ANC3 headphones aren’t the best headphones for keeping your music to yourself. They actually scored lower than the other in-ears we’ve reviewed, but above the typical pair of on-ears or over-ears. They aren’t terrible at controlling leakage, however. If you were sitting next to someone on a bus or train, chances are the ambiance will drown out most of the playback that does escape. If you’re in a quiet place like a library or museum, chances are you’ll be leaking more sound than you’d like.